Dual Battery System

[Aquanaut]

Hi, I have just bought the NL dual battery charge & control system.
I would like to know if it would be better to have a removable aux battery in a box or have the aux battery permantly installed in the engin compartment, and how would this affect the performance of the vehicle?
Basil

[4x4Maniac]

I have the NL installed, and has no interference. Batteries are heavy and bulky, I fitted mine at the back of the bak, as there weren't really space in engine bay without mods. I'd rather have a single place where a Db board is installed, and further route the wires from there, m2cw

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[Bushwacker]

Jy moet besluit of jy jou battery wil kan uithaal en iewers anders gebruik, en of jy dit in die bakkie wil los en daar gebruik. Altwee werk great. onner die bonnet is dit uit die pad en spaar jou pakplek!

[Polarbear2008]

Hi Basil

If you have the space in the engine compartment that would be most convenient, as long as you keep in mind (and I have read this all over the internet) that the temperatures in the engine compartment are not condusive to long battery life.

I personally bought the NL battery box (second hand) for 2 reasons:

1. It is all in one - not to much that can go wrong
2. It can easily be removed and used at the campsite, should I need to, or if the lux needs to go for service or if I need the loadbox for something other than camping.

If the battery is not going to be mounted in the engine bay, I would suggest it live in a box as most batteries have the tendency to spill battery acid at some or other point, and not even rubberising can withstand that type of acid! There is also less chance of damage to the battery should something slide around in the loadbox and rather hit the battery box than the battery case!

There should be no difference to the performance of the vehicle, as long as the alternator is strong enough to charge both batteries. Remember that there is a 5 minute delay before the solinoid links the batteries, and then only if there is a constant 12.7 volt from the main battery. This is to give the main battery chance to recover after the initial start.

The NL inteligent solinoid will not connect if the second battery is not present. It does sensing to make sure that both batteries are present before it connects, so if you were to have a brad harrison connector between the solinoid and your second battery box for instance, that should be ok. I would not recomend using lose leads as short circuits would be the result and possible fire! I would further suggest using the RED BH connector to indicate incoming main battery voltage (this is just to make identification easier) as the red and grey connectors cannot be plugged into each other.

All the best and let us know how things re going.

[Aquanaut]

Thanks Guys, all the advice has been great.
I have realised that the 105amp deep cycle battery is too big to fit into the space I thought I had in the engin compartment and decided to go the battery in a box rout. I wired up my vehicle to day and installed the contectors in the back of the bin. All ready for the battery to arrive.
Having a portable battery, to use at a camp site or else where was also a deciding factor, along with not having to ride with that extra weight around.
Thanks Guys.

[Polarbear2008]

Basil

remember: If you don't post photos: it never happened! ;)

[Aquanaut]

Will post them as soon as I have finished the box as I got my 105ah deep cycle battery (R985-00 excl)this morning, spent the whole day wiring it up and making the box.
I ran 35mm/2 cable through out, according to the NL manual, the voltage loss on this size cable is almost nothing along the 12m needed to wire the vehicle and with such little resistance, the load on the alternator is also reduced.
Having this cable laying in my garage for years has saved me a packet, just don't know why I havent done this a long time ago???

[Aquanaut]

What did you think of the photos? Used 35mm cable through out, installed the monitor/controler with out damaging the panel, so all is removable if needed.

[4x4Maniac]

Nice thick cable... Although the insulation is quite thick I also put these white plastic connectors/ if you can find the stainless ones, even better, where the cable goes through the body as you do not want the live touching the body *Big Spark* and/or blow of the 100Amp Fuse.

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[Aquanaut]

Hi, where ever the cables came into contact with the body when cable tying them, they were covered by hose and also a rubber sheeting. In the bin they were covered with hose only as the edges were rounded.
If you look in the four corners of the toyota bins, just under the lip, you will find openings where the panels do not meet, this provides an excess point into the bin without having to drill holes and creating sharp edges. Whether these spaces were done on purpose by toyota, I don't know, but all I know is that these open channals let a lot of dust in.
So, now that I have run my cables through it, I am going to put that expanding foam in those spaces to prevent dust from pouring into the bin area.

[4x4Maniac]

Cool wasn't aware of these channels... Maybe it was done on purpose exactly for that a Dual battery system? Nice tidy installation in the engine bay!

[Aquanaut]

Thanks

[BrettV]

Good morning Lux Lovers. :-) Happy New year

I need some advice on the Dual Battery installation.

I have a NL Daul Battery Box system which has the control system etc build in the box. This is the ones you buy from Outdoor Warehouse. I bought a new battery and decided to put it in my Lux as I use to have it in my Cruiser. I did a similar installation as Aquanaut also using 35mm cable that I ran to the back to the battery box. All was working well until I realized that my Battery is running down. My Lux was standing for a couple of days and this morning it did not want to start. I read many of the articles and forums posts on the dual batteries and I am wondering if I correctly connected the 2nd battery. I connected the wires that run to the back of the battery box, directly to the first battery. Is this correct?

I am wondering if is just the main battery of the Lux that is old or is it the addition of the Dual Battery that is causing the primary battery to discharge. I had the same with my cruiser. Some time after I added this Battery box to my cruiser one of my Main batteries had to be replaced.

[Aquanaut]

Hi Brett,
The negative terminal of the aux battery is connected to the negative terminal of the main battery, but the positive terminal of the aux battery is connected to the split charger where it says aux battery. The positive terminal of the main battery is then connected to the split charger unit where is says main battery. Only once you have connected all these cables as indicated, do you take the thin black wire from the split charger unit and connect it to the negative terminal of the main battery.
Check out the pdf I have attached.
Hope this helps.
Basil

[BrettV]

Good morning Basil

Thanks for the information. The Unit/Box that I have has everything inside. I have opened it up on a previous occasion and it has the components as per your attachment and photos, but all inside. All I have is the Red connector where the Pos and Neg goes in. I just want to make sure that I understand correctly that the Pos must connect to a fuse box and then to the RED connector, together with the black and then into the battery box.

[Aquanaut]

Yes, the pos (red) cable from the main battery connects to a 100amp in line fuse first, then from the fuse to the terminal marked main battery on the solenoid.
Your box has averything included, but I don't think the solenoid is fitted into the box, the cables from your box will still be connected to the solenoid fitted in your engine compartment, same as my home made box.